CAAT boosts funded status, lowers discount rate

Staff | March 8, 2019

The Colleges of Applied Art and Technology pension plan boosted its funding reserve to $2.6 billion, raising its funded status to 120 per cent on a going-concern basis, according to its most recent actuarial valuation.

Updated as of Jan. 1, 2019, the valuation showed an improvement over last year’s status of 118 per cent, upping its funding reserve by $300 million.

Based on the valuation, the plan’s governors decided to allocate additional funds to its reserves to strengthen benefit security, with the aim of increasing the fund’s resilience against economic and demographic shocks, according to a press release.

The current valuation, which assumes members retiring today can reasonably be expected to live to an average age of 89, also resulted in the plan’s discount rate lowering slightly, from 5.6 to 5.5 per cent.

The CAAT plan’s 2018 investment results aren’t yet available, but will be released in late April along with its annual report.